The Vaudevillains
The Vaudevillains were a professional wrestling tag team in WWE, composed of Aiden English and Simon Gotch. Their gimmick was a pair of Vaudeville-era throwbacks. They also wrestled in WWE's developmental territory NXT, where they were one-time NXT Tag Team Champions. NXT (2014-2016) In June 2014, English formed a tag team with Simon Gotch, known as The Vaudevillains. The Vaudevillains made their in-ring debut as a team on the June 19 episode, defeating Angelo Dawkins and Travis Tyler. In August, The Vaudevillains participated in a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship, before losing to The Lucha Dragons in the final. On the [[October 30, 2014 NXT results|October 30 episode of NXT]], The Vaudevillains won a tag team battle royal to become the number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championship. They received their title match at NXT TakeOver: R Evolution against The Lucha Dragons, but were unsuccessful. After a brief hiatus, The Vaudevillains returned on the [[June 3, 2015 NXT results|June 3, 2015 episode of NXT]], defeating Jason Jordan and Marcus Louis. On the [[July 1, 2015 NXT results|July 1 episode of NXT]], The Vaudevillains defeated Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady to become number one contenders to the NXT Tag Team Championships. On July 15, Blake and Murphy defeated the Vaudevillains to retain their championships after Alexa Bliss interfered. Afterward, Alexa Bliss insulted and slapped them both. General Manager William Regal then announced that there would be a rematch at a later date, meaning that the Vaudevillains have turned face in the process. On August 22, at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, the Vaudevillains (with Blue Pants as manager) defeated Blake and Murphy (with Alexa Bliss managing) to become NXT Tag Team Champions for the first time. The Vaudevillains were eliminated in the second round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic by Dash and Dawson, setting up a future championship match. On November 11, The Vaudevillians lost the title to Dash and Dawson, ending their reign at 61 days. The pair later failed to regain the titles on the November 25th episode of NXT. The duo once again turned heel after a losing streak continued with a loss to American Alpha when they refused to shake hands with the two, showing a lack of sportsmanship. They would later compete against the duo on the 21st March episode of NXT in a match to determine the #1 contenders to the NXT tag team titles where they would lose again. They made their final NXT appearance on the 13 April episode of NXT, losing to Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. Main roster (2016–2017) On the April 7, 2016 episode of SmackDown, The Vaudevillains made their main roster debut as heels, defeating The Lucha Dragons. On the April 11 episode of Raw, The Vaudevillains were announced as one of the teams to participate in the #1 contenders tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship, where they defeated Goldango (Goldust and Fandango) in the first round later that week on SmackDown and The Usos on the April 18 episode of Raw in the semi-finals. At Payback, The Vaudevillains faced Enzo and Big Cass in the finals of the tournament. The match resulted in a no-contest due to Amore suffering a legit concussion, and The Vaudevillains were declared the #1 contenders. At Extreme Rules, The Vaudevillains received their shot at the titles against The New Day in a losing effort, marking their first defeat via pinfall. At Money in the Bank, The Vaudevillains would receive another shot at the titles, competing against The New Day, Enzo and Big Cass, and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in a fatal-four-way tag team match in a losing effort. On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, The Vaudevillians were drafted to SmackDown in the tenth round of picks. In August, a tag team tournament for the newly created SmackDown Tag Team Championship was set up by SmackDown general manager Daniel Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon, where the winner of the tournament would be crowned the inaugural champions. On the August 30 episode of SmackDown, The Vaudevillians would compete in the first round match of the tournament, where they were defeated by The Hype Bros. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, The Vaudevillians were defeated by Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango) in a qualifying match for a spot on Team SmackDown at Survivor Series. On the January 31, 2017 episode of SmackDown, The Vaudevillains, along with five other teams, answered an open challenge set by American Alpha, where a brawl between all six teams ensued before being broken up by referees and officials. The following week on SmackDown, The Vaudevillains, teaming with The Usos and The Ascension, defeated American Alpha, Breezango, and Heath Slater and Rhyno in a 12-man tag team match. At Elimination Chamber, The Vaudevillains competed in a tag team turmoil match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but were eliminated by Heath Slater and Rhyno. The Vaudevillains then competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 33 pre-show on April 2, 2017, but both were eliminated from the match. This would be their last match together, as just three days later on April 5, 2017, it was announced that Simon Gotch had been released by WWE, effectively disbanding The Vaudevillains. In wrestling * Finishing moves ** Director's Cut (Cobra clutch lifted and dropped into a sitout side slam) - English ** That's a Wrap (Senton bomb) - English ** Gentleman's Clutch(Bridging cobra clutch underhook suplex) - Gotch * Double team finishing moves ** Rolling fireman's carry slam (Gotch) followed by That's A Wrap (English) ** Whirling Dervish (Uppercut to the back of the opponent's head (Gotch) followed by a swinging neckbreaker) (English) * Managers ** Blue Pants * Nicknames ** "The Artiste" - English *'Entrance themes' **"A Quicker Accomplishment" by Art Test Music (May 30, 2014 – October 2, 2014) **"Voix de Ville" by CFO$ (October 2, 2014 – April 5, 2017) **'"Vau de Vire"' by CFO$ (2015 – April 5, 2017) Championships and accomplishments * Pro Wrestling Illustrated ** PWI ranked English #'171' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 ** PWI ranked Gotch #'175' of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016 *'WWE' **NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time) * WWE ** WWE Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Tournament (2016) External links * Aiden English's WWE.com Profile * Simon Gotch's WWE.com Profile * Profile Category:World Wrestling Entertainment teams and stables Category:2014 debuts Category:2017 disbandments Category:World Wrestling Entertainment alumni Category:WWE NXT alumni Category:NXT Tag Team Champions